In autumn, the evening wind blows and the night is cool.
A "Viking woman" had just passed through a grassland, and then heard the sound of pursuit.
She ran away in a hurry, and finally saw a dense forest, and jumped into it without thinking.
Running at night was very dangerous. When the two hunters saw the woman running into a more dangerous place, they cursed, "Wait until tomorrow morning, go in and see if she was eaten by wild beasts."
"Unfortunately, Master Nanding said that as long as you catch those who are 'suspicious' and hand them back, you can get rewards."
"There will be a chance."
"Although that woman stinks a bit, her face seems to be pretty good?"
The two hunters' voices gradually became distant.
By the time Sally reacted, she was already trapped in the forest.
She leaned against a large tree that she couldn't name, and at the same time, she was alert to the light spots emerging from the distance. These light spots looked like will-o'-the-wisps or the eyes of wild beasts, facing her, making her tremble.
In the past two days, she had mixed up with a Viking community. As a ruler, she had privately learned the local Viking language and even spoke it better than ordinary Vikings.
She is also familiar with the etiquette and traditions of the local Vikings.
She infiltrated into it and tried to get away with it, but everyone in this settlement actually gathered to start a registration test.
Those who disobeyed were brutalized by Gomon's Viking men.
Once they resisted, the knight named Nanding sent his men to suppress them with cruel methods.
This is a secret pursuit order issued by Sals to Nanding with Oran's acquiescence. He is not sure whether Sally is dead and wants to find her.
There is no way out and there are dangers everywhere.
Sally's spirit and body were on the verge of collapse. She had drank all the water and strange red spots appeared all over her body.
Suddenly, she pointed the dagger at her neck. Maybe, with one strike, she would be freed?
"all……"
A strange sound came from around her, stopping Sally's thoughts of self-harm.
Her courage suddenly grew. If a person has reached the point where he wants to die, what is there to be afraid of?
Sally's hungry eyes could hardly see clearly.
She searched for a while before she found the place where the sound came from. When she got closer, the little animals on the ground that were greedy for carrion ran away in fright.
Unaware of the danger, Sally continued to get closer, but was entangled in underground tree vines and fell to the ground.
When she woke up again, her whole body ached.
"ah!"
Seeing insects and ants crawling all over her body, Sally was horrified and swung around. After calming down, she discovered a body that had been bitten into pieces a few meters away.
It was covered with maggots, but Sally didn't look away.
The corpse was almost empty, but the mouth bones were still there, with a few teeth made of gold and silver inlaid on them.
There were also fallen armbands and expensive battle clothes on the ground.
Sally endured the nausea and approached, and finally a thought occurred to her.
"Golden Teeth...Baldo!"
Baldo, banished by Haman, was abandoned and crawled all the way to this forest.
One of the Vikings responsible for transporting him, who was also a warrior in Bardo, left some food for him.
In order to take revenge, Jinya forced himself to survive. When he was thirsty, he relied on forest dew and this little food to survive for three weeks.
But he still couldn't turn over and died miserably.
Strictly speaking, the death of Jinya was caused by Haman, the leader of Sari.
When Sally saw this miserable situation, she suddenly went crazy and ran away screaming.
In the next two days, when she was hungry, she would bite the bark of trees or fruits that fell on the ground. When she encountered the entangled branches of vines, she would push them away with her hands, or break the front with her dagger.
When she ran out of the forest, she had turned into a crazy woman, with scratches on her face and exposed hands and feet.
The dried blood and soil solidified on his face, and he couldn't even speak clearly.
Finally she ran near a valley.
Several Viking women who had "lost their husbands" and supported each other found her when they went up the mountain to collect. They restrained her, fed her food, and placed her near the cave where she was hiding.
Sally screamed every night, but these Viking women understood that she might be in the same situation as them and took care of her patiently.
Three days later, when a little boy followed his mother to deliver a bowl of wheat lake, he gave Sally a violet that had just bloomed.
Sally looked at the flower and suddenly put down the porridge, looking at it stupidly.
"When the violets bloom, everything will be different."
She thought of those words, that devil's face...
That night, Sally woke up, no longer ranting about her filial piety, and could talk calmly.
The next day, she expressed her gratitude to the women who brought food again, and tested them in Viking language, finally learning what had happened recently.
It turned out that Gomen gathered Haman, Jinya, and other people under the Viking chiefs, and forcibly moved them to a place designated by Oran, where they were baptized and converted.
Those who were unwilling to submit were purged, and the husbands of these women died as a result.
The remaining Juan members were hiding and unwilling to convert.
After returning to normal, Sally accompanied the women to collect food.
But only two days after the peaceful days, a group of uninvited guests appeared.
At dusk that day, Sally followed the little boy who gave her violets and returned to the cave with a lot of flowers and plants.
Two bruised and braided Viking men fell to the ground in front, with traces of blood visible along the road.
"Mother!"
"return!"
Before Sharila could reach it, the little boy rushed to his mother's body. As soon as he knelt down and cried bitterly, several Catholic soldiers burst out of the cave. They had already killed everyone inside.
The soldier who walked out first swung his sword directly at the little boy.
To a soldier, a Viking deserves death, especially a man, and this man shows no mercy.
"don't want!"
Sally rushed over with a dagger in hand, but it was in vain, unable to penetrate the thick armor, and was slapped down.
"Don't worry about these women. Let's go after that bug-eating weirdo. He just went over there. If you catch him, do you know how much reward you will get?"
A rider led a majestic war horse with an eagle flag flashing on it. Sally recognized it as the "Knights Hospitaller"!
After the soldiers left, Sally hugged the little boy and cried bitterly. Not long after, a Viking warrior with a terrifying face came over, with two arrow feathers stuck in his legs.
An injured crow followed beside him, never leaving.
"I killed those five Catholic soldiers just now and took the children away..."
After Abu finished speaking, he fell to the ground.
After that day, although he escaped from the battlefield, he was hunted endlessly and was even betrayed by his men. He suffered from new injuries and old illnesses, and passed out.
Sally walked over and glanced at the man.
Scavenger Abu?
That day on the sentry tower, she saw Abu fighting.
The power of one person is limited, but with the power of two, three, or countless people, there may be a chance.
Sally did not run away alone. She pulled all the corpses back into the cave one by one to avoid being destroyed by wild beasts or insects. Finally, she clasped her hands together and recited silently, put down the flowers and plants she picked today, and set a fire. With all his strength, he struggled to lift Abu's body up and leave.
The remnant crow probably knew that Sally would not harm its owner, so it followed him obediently...
…
August 29, 865 AD.
Oran personally led two hundred people to the north of Dan City, near Niu Jing Territory.
This area is the Niu Neck territory. He has the largest number of people and the terrain is familiar. Witness Oran is only allowed to bring two hundred people, while the kingdom, including the soldiers escorting the priests, is only allowed to bring a hundred people.
Shi Meng limited the number of people to help him be baptized, so that the three hundred people could not cause trouble, thus successfully ending the conversion operation.
The knight nobles sent by King Ella were "Cule Clark", the brother-in-law of Princess Hai'an, and the baptized bishop was "Koni".
These two people are the nobles Oran met when he went to Dan City last time.
Nanding was still helping Gomon control the Viking territory in the north and did not rush back.
This time Oran mainly brought four knights, namely Kunsang, Armand, Tuman, and Marcus.
As for the ministers, there are Sals and Titan.
Due to the Iron Ring incident, Tuman and Marcus had a more demanding task this time.
To help intercept the priest.
At noon, Oran and the king's troops entered the baptismal site from different directions.
It is located next to a stream, and the scene is spacious.
There are two guard towers nearby, with Viking shooters on guard.
Once the situation changes, Shi Meng's troops will enter from other directions.
Shi Meng was extremely careful because his wife was also following him.
Oran saw this woman for the first time.
He is not like those poets who always describe the appearance of beautiful women in a gaudy way, saying that your eyes can see the stars, your smile can conquer the world and shorten a person's life by a few years.
"Big eyes, tall nose, good temperament." This is the intuitive impression produced by Olan.
Olan dismounted and walked over. He was wearing a white ceremonial robe today, with gloves on both hands, and had his hair cut short. He looked very neat and tidy.
"Long time no see, Lord Guile, Bishop Konni." Oran greeted the king first.
Kong Ni didn't know what was going to happen yet, so he politely greeted Oran.
But Cyrus knew that in this operation, the priests he brought out would all die.
This was Sars who was lurking next to Oran and told the king the plan.
Sals said that the Vikings would pretend to be baptized, and then after the baptism was over, they would launch an attack on the team's return journey, and then go all out to storm the royal capital.
The royal capital has prepared troops to resist this attack.
The seven priests who came out with Conny are all senior monks and control many "tax-free book fields" in Northumbria County.
When King Ella came to power, he relied on these priests to do their faith work, so he gave them many privileges, but now he wants to take them back.
Borrowing the enemy's help to get rid of these bastards who always chatter and don't pay taxes is the lowest cost.
"I am very happy. Today, so many lost lambs will return to the embrace of the Lord."
Kongni recited a few holy words and blessed Olan and others.
Shi Meng smiled on his face, but felt contempt in his heart.
"It's getting late, let's start quickly." Gu Lie urged.
Oran then said, "I, Oran Vijay, Lord of Durham and County Sheriff of the Kingdom, serve as a baptism witness today. The Lord's kindness spreads throughout the earth, Amen."
Baptizing so many Vikings is a rare event, and he might even appear in the ears of the Bishop of Rome.
Kong Nixian explained solemnly, "According to the catechism re-edited by Nicholas I, there are three types of baptisms currently practiced, 'spiritual baptism', 'blood baptism', and 'water baptism'. Which one do you want to adopt?"
Shi Meng originally thought that baptism was all about water immersion. It was the first time he heard about the other two types and he asked curiously, "What's the difference? Your Excellency, Bishop?"
"Spirit baptism requires a pilgrimage to Rome first, and then praying under St. Peter's Basilica for seven days. This is a comprehensive repentance and recasting of faith. After that, seven good deeds must be performed. This symbolizes the seven good deeds. After these sacraments are completed, , the soul will be reborn." Konni explained.
To the ears of the Vikings, these words made him feel like he had taken off his pants and farted, making a lot of sense.
Only Oran could hear the "subtlety" in it.
After the Vikings landed and the Knights Hospitallers were established, he paid more attention to collecting intelligence from the Holy See.
Only by better understanding the ideological trends of those in power in the Holy See can we find more opportunities to exploit them.
Charlemagne suppressed theocratic power, and subsequent pontificates determined to expand ecclesiastical power. In the past few years, the current pontiff, Nicol I, has made reforms one after another.
First, they expanded the Roman clergy guard, then canonized many Catholic saints from different places, and sent visiting delegations there for exchanges and to increase donations and support from other lords.
There are also scriptures and rituals that unify different views.
For example, this "baptism" originally had a relatively concise version.
However, Nicholas I wrote another "Baptismal Collection" to add changes.
Just for this "spiritual baptism", you have to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and you have to kneel down and repent to the Pope in person, which invisibly elevates the Pope to the status of God.
Spirit immersion is unrealistic, so Kongni went on to introduce the second kind of "blood immersion".
"Freedom from desire."
"What desire?"
"The pursuit of sex, food, wealth, fame and other behaviors can make you a 'saint' until the day you die."
This is a way of practice for ascetics, and it is naturally impossible for the Vikings to practice it.
The last one is the well-known "flooding"
Use clean and pure water to wash away your own impurities, tremble in front of everyone (God), and show that you will obey the teachings and fight for the Lord throughout your life.
Recently, there has been a controversy over water baptism, that is, whether a newborn baby can be baptized.
Because they are still in a state of ignorance.
One sect of priests believes that only true believers who are full of wisdom, experienced, and able to distinguish right from wrong are considered believers and can be baptized.
However, in order to expand his influence, Nicholas I forcibly announced that this method could be used for babies, and extended many doctrines to attack the priests and different doctrines who were dissatisfied with him...
Shi Meng, his wife, and the small leaders who came out to receive baptism on their behalf all agreed to perform the water immersion method.
Afterwards, under Kong Ni's gaze, Shi Meng took the lead and began to talk about the crime, but he frowned when he heard it.
"When I was a teenager, I once saw a man insulting a woman, but I didn't kill him and let him go."
Shi Meng's beginning, and the subsequent self-atonement of a group of small leaders, are also nonsense, treating good things as evil things.
Konni wanted to stop. He valued this sacred baptism. He was about to nag, but was stopped by Guile.
"Bishop Konni, no matter what you have done before, the most important thing is the future. Faith is far more important than ceremony."
The immersion was stopped, and the king's priests helped the Vikings immerse themselves in the water.
Be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The body is immersed in the water, which symbolizes "death (the sinful body has left)", and then leaves, which means "resurrection (rebirth)."
Kony and the other priests adopted a church tone and sang praises to God.
"All your past evil deeds have been buried. From now on, you must respect the Lord's faith and will and live with an upright and righteous heart."
